"From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits
and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master total and absolute,
Listening to others, considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently, but with undeniable will divesting myself of the
holds that would hold me."
Great should be the joy that God's boundless truth is open to all, open
_equally_ to all, and that it will make each one its dwelling place in
proportion as he earnestly desires it and opens himself to it.
And in regard to the wisdom that guides us in our daily life, there is
nothing that it is right and well for us to know that may not be known
when we recognize the law of its coming, and are able wisely to use it.
Let us know that all things are ours as soon as we know how to
appropriate them.
"I hold it as a changeless law,
From which no soul can sway or swerve,
We have that in us which will draw
Whate'er we need or most deserve."
If the times come when we know not what course to pursue, when we know
not which way to turn, the fault lies in ourselves. If the fault lies in
ourselves then the correction of this unnatural condition lies also in
ourselves. It is never necessary to come into such a state if we are
awake and remain awake to the light and the powers within us. The light
is ever shining, and the only thing that it is necessary for us
diligently to see to is that we permit neither this thing nor that to
come between us and the light. "With Thee is the fountain of life; in
Thy light shall we see light."
Let us hear the words of one of the most highly illumined men I have ever
known, and one who as a consequence is never in the dark, when the time
comes, as to what to do and how to do it. "Whenever you are in doubt as
to the course you should pursue, after you have turned to every outward
means of guidance, _let the inward eye see, let the inward ear hear_, and
allow this simple, natural, beautiful process to go on unimpeded by
questionings or doubts. . . . In all dark hours and times of unwonted
perplexity we need to follow one simple direction, found, as all needed
directions can be found, in the dear old gospel, which so many read, but
alas, _so few interpret_. 'Enter into thine inner chamber and shut the
door.' Does this mean that we must literally betake ourselves to a
private closet with a key in the door? If it did, then the command could
never be obeyed in the open air, on land or sea, and the Christ loved the
lakes and the forests far better than the cramping rooms of city dwelling
houses; still his counsels are so wide-reaching that there is no spot on
earth and no conceivable situation in which any of us may be placed where
we cannot follow them.
"One of the most intuitive men we ever met had a desk in a city office
where several other gentlemen were doing business constantly and often
talking loudly. Entirely undisturbed by the many various sounds about
him, this self-centred, faithful man would, in any moment of perplexity,
draw the curtains of privacy so completely about him that he would be as
fully enclosed in his own psychic aura, and thereby as effectually
removed from all distractions as though he were alone in some primeval
wood. Taking his difficulty with him into the mystic silence in the form
of a direct question, to which he expected a certain answer, he would
remain utterly passive until the reply came, and never once through many
years' experience did he find himself disappointed or misled. Intuitive
perceptions of truth are the daily bread to satisfy our daily hunger;
they come like the manna in the desert day by day; each day brings
adequate supply for that day's need only. They must be followed
instantly, for dalliance with them means their obscuration, and the more
we dally the more we invite erroneous impressions to cover intuition with
a pall of conflicting moral phantasy born of illusions of the terrence
will.
"One condition is imposed by _universal law_, and this we must obey. Put
all wishes aside save the one desire to know _truth_; couple with this
one demand the fully consecrated determination to follow what is
distinctly perceived as truth immediately it is revealed. No other
affection must be permitted to share the field with this all-absorbing
love of _truth_ for its own sake. Obey this one direction and never
forget that expectation and desire are bride and bridegroom and forever
inseparable, and you will soon find your hitherto darkened way grow
luminous with celestial radiance, for with the heaven within, all heavens
without incessantly co-operate." This may be termed going into the
"silence." This it is to perceive and to be guided by the light that
lighteth every man that cometh into the world. This it is to listen to
and be guided by the voice of your own soul, the voice of your higher
self.
The soul is divine and in allowing it to become translucent to the
Infinite Spirit it reveals all things to us. As man turns away from the
Divine Light do all things become hidden. There is nothing hidden of
itself. When the spiritual sense is opened, then it transcends all the
limitations of the physical senses and the intellect. And in the degree
that we are able to get away from the limitations set by them, and
realize that so far as the real life is concerned it is one with the
Infinite Life, then we begin to reach the place where this voice will
always speak, where it will never fail us, if we follow it, and as a
consequence where we will always have the divine illumination and
guidance. To know this and to live in this realization is not to live in
heaven hereafter, but to live in heaven here and now, _today and every
day_.
No human soul need be without it. When we turn our face in the right
direction it comes as simply and as naturally as the flower blooms and
the winds blow. It is not to be bought with money or with price. It is
a condition waiting simply to be realized, by rich and by poor, by king
and by peasant, by master and by servant the world over. All are equal
heirs to it. And so the peasant, if he find it first, lives a life far
transcending in beauty and in real power the life of his king. The
servant, if he find it first, lives a life surpassing the life of his
master.
If you would find the highest, the fullest, and the richest life that not
only this world but that any world can know, then do away with the sense
of the separateness of your life from the life of God. Hold to the
thought of your oneness. In the degree that you do this you will find
yourself realizing it more and more, and as this life of realization is
lived, you will find that no good thing will be withheld, for all things
are included in this. Then it will be yours, without fears or
forebodings, simply to do today what your hands find to do, and so be
ready for tomorrow, _when it comes_, knowing that tomorrow will bring
tomorrow's supplies for the mental, the spiritual, and the physical life.
Remember, however, that tomorrow's supplies are not needed until tomorrow
comes.
If one is willing to trust himself _fully_ to the Law, the Law will never
fail him. It is the half-hearted trusting to it that brings uncertain,
and so, unsatisfactory results. Nothing is firmer and surer than Deity.
It will never fail the one who throws himself wholly upon it. The secret
of life then, is to live continually in this realization, whatever one
may be doing, wherever one may be, by day and by night, both waking and
sleeping. It can be lived in while we are sleeping no less than when we
are awake. And here shall we consider a few facts in connection with
sleep, in connection with receiving instruction and illumination while
asleep?
During the process of sleep it is merely the physical body that is at
rest and in quiet; the soul life with all its activities goes right on.
Sleep is nature's provision for the recuperation of the body, for the
rebuilding and hence the replacing of the waste that is continually going
on during the waking hours. It is nature's great restorer. If
sufficient sleep is not allowed the body, so that the rebuilding may
equalize the wasting process, the body is gradually depleted and
weakened, and any ailment or malady, when it is in this condition, is
able to find a more ready entrance. It is for this reason that those who
are subject to it will take a cold, as we term it, more readily when the
body is tired or exhausted through loss of sleep than at most any other
time. The body is in that condition where outside influences can have a
more ready effect upon it, than when it is in its normal condition. And
when they do have an effect they always go to the weaker portions first.
Our bodies are given us to serve far higher purposes than we ordinarily
use them for. Especially is this true in the numerous cases where the
body is master of its owner. In the degree that we come into the
realization of the higher powers of the mind and spirit, in that degree
does the body, through their influence upon it, become less gross and
heavy, finer in its texture and form. And then, because the mind finds a
kingdom of enjoyment in itself, and in all the higher things it becomes
related to, _excesses_ in eating and drinking, as well as all others,
naturally and of their own accord fall away. There also falls away the
desire for the heavier, grosser, less valuable kinds of food and drink,
such as the flesh of animals, alcoholic drinks, and all things of the
class that stimulate the body and the passions rather than build the body
and the brain into a strong, clean, well-nourished, enduring, and fibrous
condition. In the degree that the body thus becomes less gross and
heavy, finer in its texture and form, is there less waste, and what there
is is more easily replaced, so that it keeps in a more regular and even
condition. When this is true, less sleep is actually required. And even
the amount that is taken does more for a body of this finer type than it
can do for one of the other nature.
As the body in this way grows finer, in other words, as the process of
its evolution is thus accelerated, it in turn helps the mind and the soul
in the realization of ever higher perceptions, and thus body helps mind
the same as mind builds body. It was undoubtedly this fact that Browning
had in mind when he said:
"Let us cry 'All good things
Are ours, nor soul helps flesh, more now,
Than flesh helps soul.'"
Sleep, then, is for the resting and the rebuilding of the body. The soul
needs no rest, and while the body is at rest in sleep the soul life is
active the same as when the body is in activity.
There are some, having a deep insight into the soul's activities, who say
that we travel when we sleep. Some are able to recall and bring over
into the conscious, waking life the scenes visited, the information
gained, and the events that have transpired. Most people are not able to
do this and so much that might otherwise be gained is lost. They say,
however, that it is in our power, in proportion as we understand the
laws, to go where we will, and to bring over into the conscious, waking
life all the experiences thus gained. Be this, however, as it may, it
certainly is true that while sleeping we have the power, in a perfectly
normal and natural way, to get much of value by way of light,
instruction, and growth that the majority of people now miss.
If the soul life, that which relates us to Infinite Spirit, is always
active, even while the body is at rest, why may not the mind so direct
conditions as one falls asleep, that while the body is at rest, it may
continually receive illumination from the soul and bring what it thus
receives over into the conscious, waking life? This, indeed, can be
done, and is done by some to great advantage; and many times the highest
inspirations from the soul come in this way, as would seem most natural,
since at this time all communications from the outer, material world no
longer enter. I know those who do much work during sleep, the same as
they get much light along desired lines. By charging the mind on going
to sleep as to a particular time for waking, it is possible, as many of
us know, to wake on the very minute. Not infrequently we have examples
of difficult problems, problems that defied solution during waking hours,
being solved during sleep.
A friend, a well-known journalist, had an extended newspaper article
clearly and completely worked out for her in this way. She frequently
calls this agency to her aid. She was notified by the managing editor
one evening to have the article ready in the morning,--an article
requiring more than ordinary care, and one in which quite a knowledge of
facts was required. It was a matter in connection with which she knew
scarcely anything, and all her efforts at finding information regarding
it seemed to be of no avail.
She set to work, but it seemed as if even her own powers defied her.
Failure seemed imminent. Almost in desperation she decided to retire,
and putting the matter into her mind in such a way that she would be able
to receive the greatest amount of aid while asleep, she fell asleep and
slept soundly until morning. When she awoke her work of the previous
evening was the first thing that came into her mind. She lay quietly for
a few minutes, and as she lay there, the article, completely written,
seemed to stand before her mind. She ran through it, arose, and without
dressing took her pen and transcribed it on to paper, literally acting
simply as her own amanuensis.
The mind acting intently along a particular line will continue so to act
until some other object of thought carries it along another line. And
since in sleep only the body is in quiet while the mind and soul are
active, then the mind on being given a certain direction when one drops
off to sleep, will take up the line along which it is directed, and can
be made, in time, to bring over into consciousness the results of its
activities. Some will be able very soon to get results of this kind; for
some it will take longer. Quiet and continued effort will increase the
faculty.
Then by virtue of the law of the drawing power of mind, since the mind is
always active, we are drawing to us even while sleeping, influences from
the realms kindred to those in which we in our thoughts are living before
we fall asleep. In this way we can put ourselves into relation with what
ever kinds of influence we choose and accordingly gain much during the
process of sleep. In many ways the interior faculties are more open and
receptive while we are in sleep than while we are awake. Hence the
necessity of exercising even greater care as to the nature of the
thoughts that occupy the mind as we enter into sleep, for there can come
to us only what we by our own order of thought attract. We have it
entirely in our own hands.
And for the same reason,--this greater degree of receptivity during this
period,--we are able by understanding and using the law, to gain much of
value more readily in this way than when the physical senses are fully
open to the material world about us. Many will find a practice somewhat
after the following nature of value: When light or information is desired
along any particular line, light or information you feel it is right and
wise for you to have, as, for example, light in regard to an uncertain
course of action, then as you retire, first bring your mind into the
attitude of peace and good-will for all. You in this way bring yourself
into an harmonious condition, and in turn attract to yourself these same
peaceful conditions from without.
Then resting in this sense of peace, quietly and calmly send out your
earnest desire for the needed light or information; cast out of your mind
all fears or forebodings lest it come not, for "in quietness and in
confidence shall be your strength." Take the expectant attitude of mind,
firmly believing and expecting that when you awake the desired results
will be with you. Then on awaking, before any thoughts or activities
from the outside world come in to absorb the attention, remain for a
little while receptive to the intuitions or the impressions that come.
When they come, when they manifest themselves clearly, then act upon them
without delay. In the degree that you do this, in that degree will the
power of doing it ever more effectively grow.
Or, if for unselfish purposes you desire to grow and develop any of your
faculties, or to increase the health and strength of your body, take a
corresponding attitude of mind, the form of which will readily suggest
itself in accordance with your particular needs or desires. In this way
you will open yourself to, you will connect yourself with, and you will
set into operation within yourself, the particular order of forces that
will make for these results. Don't be afraid to voice your desires. In
this way you set into operation vibratory forces which go out and which
make their impress felt somewhere, and which, arousing into activity or
uniting with other forces, set about to actualize your desires. No good
thing shall be withheld from him who lives in harmony with the higher
laws and forces. There are no desires that shall not be satisfied to the
one who knows and who wisely uses the powers with which he or she is
endowed.
Your sleep will be more quiet, and peaceful, and refreshing, and so your
power increased mentally, physically, and spiritually, simply by sending
out as you fall asleep, thoughts of love and good-will, thoughts of peace
and harmony for all. In this way you are connecting yourself with all
the forces in the universe that make for peace and harmony.
A friend who is known the world over through his work along humane lines,
has told me that many times in the middle of the night he is awakened
suddenly and there comes to his mind, as a flash of inspiration, a
certain plan in connection with his work. And as he lays there quietly
and opens himself to it, the methods for its successful carrying out all
reveal themselves to him clearly. In this way many plans are entered
upon and brought to a successful culmination that otherwise would never
be thought of, plans that seem, indeed, marvelous to the world at large.
He is a man with a sensitive organism, his life in thorough harmony with
the higher laws, and given wholly and unreservedly to the work to which
he has dedicated it. Just how and from what source these inspirations
come he does not fully know. Possibly no one does, though each may have
his theory. But this we do know, and it is all we need to know now, at
least,--that to the one who lives in harmony with the higher laws of his
being, and who opens himself to them, they come.
Visions and inspirations of the highest order will come in the degree
that we make for them the right conditions. One who has studied deeply
into the subject in hand has said: "To receive education spiritually
while the body is resting in sleep is a perfectly normal and orderly
experience, and would occur definitely and satisfactorily in the lives of
all of us, if we paid more attention to internal and consequently less to
external states with their supposed but unreal necessities. . . . Our
thoughts make us what we are here and hereafter, and our thoughts are
often busier by night than by day, for when we are asleep to the exterior
we can be wide awake to the interior world; and the unseen world is a
substantial place, the conditions of which are entirely regulated by
mental and moral attainments. When we are not deriving information
through outward avenues of sensation, we are receiving instruction
through interior channels of perception, and when this fact is understood
for what it is worth, it will become a universal custom for persons to
take to sleep with them the special subject on which they most earnestly
desire particular instruction. The Pharaoh type of person dreams, and so
does his butler and baker; but the Joseph type, which is that of the
truly gifted seer, both dreams and interprets."
But why had not Pharaoh the power of interpreting his dreams? Why was
Joseph the type of the "truly gifted seer?" Why did he not only dream,
but had also the power to interpret both his own dreams and the dreams of
others? Simply read the lives of the two. He who runs may read. In all
true power it is, after all, living the life that tells. And in
proportion as one lives the life does he not only attain to the highest
power and joy for himself, but he also becomes of ever greater service to
all the world. One need remain in no hell longer than he himself chooses
to; and the moment he chooses not to remain longer, not all the powers in
the universe can prevent his leaving it. One can rise to any heaven he
himself chooses; and when he chooses so to rise, all the higher powers of
the universe combine to help him heavenward.
When one awakes from sleep and so returns to conscious life, he is in a
peculiarly receptive and impressionable state. All relations with the
material world have for a time been shut off, the mind is in a freer and
more natural state, resembling somewhat a sensitive plate, where
impressions can readily leave their traces. This is why many times the
highest and truest impressions come to one in the early morning hours,
before the activities of the day and their attendant distractions have
exerted an influence. This is one reason why many people can do their
best work in the early hours of the day.
But this fact is also a most valuable one in connection with the moulding
of every-day life. The mind is at this time as a clean sheet of paper.
We can most valuably use this quiet, receptive, impressionable period by
wisely directing the activities of the mind along the highest and most
desirable paths, and thus, so to speak, set the pace for the day.
Each morning is a fresh beginning. We are, as it were, just beginning
life. We have it _entirely_ in our own hands. And when the morning with
its fresh beginning comes, all yesterdays should be yesterdays, with
which we have nothing to do. Sufficient is it to know that the way we
lived our yesterday has determined for us our today. And, again, when
the morning with its fresh beginning comes, all tomorrows should be
tomorrows, with which we have nothing to do. Sufficient to know that the
way we live our today determines our tomorrow.
"Every day is a fresh beginning,
Every morn is the world made new;
You who are weary of sorrow and sinning,
Here is a beautiful hope for you,
A hope for me and a hope for you.
"All the past things are past and over,
The tasks are done, and the tears are shed.
Yesterday's errors let yesterday cover;
Yesterday's wounds, which smarted and bled,
Are healed with the healing which might has shed.
* * * * * *
"Let them go, since we cannot relieve them,
Cannot undo and cannot atone.
God in His mercy receive, forgive them!
Only the new days are our own.
Today is ours, and today alone.
"Here are the skies all burnished brightly;
Here is the spent earth all reborn;
Here are the tired limbs springing lightly
To face the sun and to share with the morn
In the chrism of dew and the cool of dawn.
"Every day is a fresh beginning,
Listen, my soul, to the glad refrain,
And, spite of old sorrow and older sinning,
And puzzles forecasted, and possible pain,
Take heart with the day and begin again."
Simply the first hour of this new day, with all its richness and glory,
with all its sublime and eternity-determining possibilities, and each
succeeding hour as it comes, but _not before_ it comes. This is the
secret of character building. This simple method will bring any one to
the realization of the highest life that can be even conceived of, and
there is nothing in this connection that can be conceived of that cannot
be realized somehow, somewhen, somewhere.
This brings such a life within the possibilities of _all_, for there is
_no one_, if really in earnest and if he really desires it, who cannot
live to his highest for a single hour. But even though there should be,
if he is _only earnest in his endeavor_, then, through the law that like
builds like, he will be able to come a little nearer to it the next hour,
and still nearer the next, and the next, until sooner or later comes the
time when it becomes the natural, and any other would require the effort.
In this way one becomes in love and in league with the highest and best
in the universe, and as a consequence, the highest and best in the
universe becomes in love and in league with him. They aid him at every
turn; they seem literally to move all things his way, because forsooth,
he has first moved their way.